Web Development: How to Add Fonts to Photoshop (Mac and Windows)

Monday, February 10, 2020

How to Add Fonts to Photoshop (Mac and Windows)

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

Want to add a new font to Adobe Photoshop? Using Adobe Fonts is an easy way to do so via Adobe's Creative Cloud. We can use this tool to add new fonts to Photoshop, as well as other Creative Cloud apps, quickly and easily! In this article, we'll look at using Adobe Fonts to easily install fonts for Adobe Photoshop, as well as some other ways to install fonts for both Windows and Mac.

Please note that we'll be using Adobe Creative Cloud in this tutorial; Adobe Fonts are included with your Creative Cloud subscription.

Follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

1. How to Use Adobe Fonts

Step 1

Begin by opening up Adobe Creative Cloud. Make sure that you've updated and you're running the latest version.

Not sure where to find it?

On Windows, you can find the Creative Cloud application by searching for it in the taskbar.

On Mac, you can find the Creative Cloud application by searching for it on your launchpad (or you could ask Siri!).

Step 2

Next, click on the font icon at the top right of the window, and select Manage Fonts. This will open Adobe Fonts in your default browser.

Note: You can also find a link to Adobe Fonts in the resource link.

Step 3

Note, you may need to log in to your Adobe account, if you aren't already logged in. Remember to log in with the same account associated with your Creative Cloud subscription.

From here, within our browser, we can search for fonts, based on any criteria we like! Type in a search term or use the filters to find fonts suitable for your project.

Step 4

For example, let's check out some of the Classifications—like Sans Serif. This might be a great fit for body copy. Looking for something with a bit more variety? Try out Hand or Decorative.

Step 5

If you’re looking for a very particular kind of style, you can also use the Properties search options. Looking for bold fonts, for example? Try the thicker weight.

Adjust these settings until you find what’s right for you.

Browse through the fonts to pick out one that appeals to you and select the View Family button.

Step 6

We also have several options for previewing fonts. We can, for example, change the sample text to get a better feel for how the type looks before we install it. This can be really helpful if you're looking for a font for a specific word or phrase.

You can also adjust the text size in this preview. For example, we could make it quite small to test out readability and legibility at smaller sizes—or to take it for a test run for something like body copy.

Step 7

Once you've found a font that you'd like to use, we can select View Family to get a more detailed look at it.

Select a font, and then click on View Family to proceed.

Step 8

In this example, I've chosen to take a closer look at the Macho font.

If you've decided you'd like to use a font, click on Activate Font, as highlighted below. It's that easy! Adobe Creative Cloud will then activate that font and make it available for you.

Step 9

Now, I can return to Photoshop and search for my newly activated font. With the Text Tool selected, I typed the name of my font into the Options Bar.

Check it out! There's Macho—my newly activated font. And that's that—piece of cake.

2. How to Install Fonts on Windows 10

Adobe Fonts is handy, but it's not the only way was can install fonts on our computer. We can also do so outside of Creative Cloud.

Not sure how? Check out this step-by-step tutorial; it has both a text walk-through and a video to help you out, specifically for Windows 10:

Or here's a quick guide, to help you get started:

Download your font from a source on the Internet.
Many times, font files will come in a compressed zip file.
Extract the font files to your Desktop (or another place on your computer).
Then, locate your Windows folder, where your operating system has been installed.
Inside the Windows folder, open up the Fonts folder.
Drag your extracted font files to the Fonts folder.

Then, you should see visual confirmation that Windows is installing your font. Voila!

3. How to Install Fonts on Mac

On a Mac, instead? Like Windows, you also have the option to install fonts in other ways, as well—particularly using Font Book.

Download your font from a source on the Internet.
Again, many times, font files will come in a compressed zip file.
Extract these files by double-clicking on the zip file. Your Mac should automatically create a folder with the contents inside.
Click on the font file and a preview will open up in Font Book for you.
Then, click Install Font to install your font.
This will take you to your fonts within Font Book, where you can preview your newly installed font.

Simple, right? You can also arrange, enable, disable, and uninstall fonts from Font Book!

Want to know more or need a little extra help? Check out this step-by-step tutorial, with both a text and video guide for installing fonts on a Mac:

And There You Have It!

We have plenty of options when it comes to installing fonts on our computer. Whether you choose the convenience of installation via Adobe Fonts and Creative Cloud or you prefer another method, it's a great idea to know more than one way to do these things. Why? Sometimes, one way might prove to be a little more convenient than another!

Love typography? Want more font-related tips and tricks? Check out these articles: